Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks (Part II)

[ChrisFL]

I think we discussed this in Part One somewhere and it is an issue in places that are not designed to accommodate the parking they require. Strollers eat tons of area and are a nightmare. In Walt's day the problem existed but the park was probably less crowded and had less attractions. The park went from 17 Attractions to more than 53 depending what you count. I think the bigger issue is the electric wheelchairs that are basically motor vehicles and require clearances up to the exits. I'd look at central parking for a land like Toontown.

Then it will be interesting to see what happens once the new Fantasyland expansion opens...whether they will have adequate space to accomodate the strollers.

I wish they had a stroller parking area like the car parking garages in Tokyo, just push it in and it automatically takes it up out of the way until you want to retrieve it.

 

[ChrisFL]

Eddie, can you suggest any computer tools for design that you use or have used in the creative process?

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Eddie, can you suggest any computer tools for design that you use or have used in the creative process?

I use a Cintiq 21UX type Wacom tablet so I draw digitally right on the screen. We don't use paper very much. Having said that, I use lots of art programs beyond Photoshop.

Art Programs..

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
ArtRage Pro
LineForm

For iPad I use "Index cards" to arrange ideas, and the above programs for the iPad as well. I like to draw onscreen anywhere I am.

Our 3D Artists use a variety of programs from Cinema 4D, Sketchup, and Maya, to 3D StudioMax. It depends on the artist.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'd also imagine that Scorsese would need 3D to help market a very obscure subject such as Hugo.

Why would you say Hugo is obscure?

I use a Cintiq 21UX type Wacom tablet so I draw digitally right on the screen. We don't use paper very much. Having said that, I use lots of art programs beyond Photoshop.

Art Programs..

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
ArtRage Pro
LineForm

For iPad I use "Index cards" to arrange ideas, and the above programs for the iPad as well. I like to draw onscreen anywhere I am.

Our 3D Artists use a variety of programs from Cinema 4D and Maya, to 3D StudioMax. It depends on the artist.

Any sort of practice exercises you can recommend for getting used to a drawing tablet? I recent purchased a Wacom Bamboo to try and move into doing more digitally, but it is odd getting used to using it instead of paper.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Why would you say Hugo is obscure?


Any sort of practice exercises you can recommend for getting used to a drawing tablet? I recent purchased a Wacom Bamboo to try and move into doing more digitally, but it is odd getting used to using it instead of paper.

It's not a mass market concept like Spiderman. Johnny Depp produced it and "got" the idea, but normally a film even based on a children's book would be a hard sell with that kind of a mega 150M budget. It's slow and period French. pretty much an excuse to celebrate George Melies. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it a lot, but it's not box office.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/02/graham-king-on-hugos-rough-ride-its-been-painful.html

The Cintiq series (here's mine http://www.wacom.com/en/Products/~/link.aspx?_id=D6274FFC6CFE4499AD10A7A3E1F5DF08&_z=z)
is easier for me to learn as you see what your doing. I had trouble with the Bamboo type tablets as I could not get used to them that easily. Edge tracing images is good practice I guess. Drawing on it and getting used to the way the pen feels is the biggest deal. I love the tablet and hate going back to paper, although I have sketchbooks in my bag.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Then it will be interesting to see what happens once the new Fantasyland expansion opens...whether they will have adequate space to accomodate the strollers.

I wish they had a stroller parking area like the car parking garages in Tokyo, just push it in and it automatically takes it up out of the way until you want to retrieve it.

They need something, that's for sure. From a business standpoint, the value of in-park land is so huge they cannot afford not to deal with the stroller issue. imagine the food and retail revenue that's lost from the areas taken by parked strollers.

I think someone should scan the daveland pages to see how many strollers are in old period DL photos.

 

[unkadug]

They need something, that's for sure. From a business standpoint, the value of in-park land is so huge they cannot afford not to deal with the stroller issue. imagine the food and retail revenue that's lost from the areas taken by parked strollers.

I think someone should scan the daveland pages to see how many strollers are in old period DL photos.

Yeah, there is a direct correlation between the rise in childhood obesity and the abundance of strollers at the parks.

A quick peek at Davelandweb.com shows "ZERO" strollers at the parks!

 

[ChrisFL]

I use a Cintiq 21UX type Wacom tablet so I draw digitally right on the screen. We don't use paper very much. Having said that, I use lots of art programs beyond Photoshop.

Art Programs..

Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
ArtRage Pro
LineForm

For iPad I use "Index cards" to arrange ideas, and the above programs for the iPad as well. I like to draw onscreen anywhere I am.

Our 3D Artists use a variety of programs from Cinema 4D, Sketchup, and Maya, to 3D StudioMax. It depends on the artist.

Cool, I've been using PaintShop Pro with Bryce 5.0 and AutoCAD...its not perfect, but I do have good results with Bryce's animation engine.

I definitely need an iPad to sketch ideas when they come to my head

Oh, and i sometimes use Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 for very limited things :lol:

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Cool, I've been using PaintShop Pro with Bryce 5.0 and AutoCAD...its not perfect, but I do have good results with Bryce's animation engine.

I definitely need an iPad to sketch ideas when they come to my head

Oh, and i sometimes use Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 for very limited things :lol:

The iPad is not that great yet because the stylus cannot get you very good detail. Kinda like a crayon. I bought an ASUS PC (yuk!) tablet that had a Wacom pen included to do that more detailed stuff. I'm not using it as much as I thought.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Thanks for the tips. It is weird not looking, but the ones with screens like you use are currently outside of my budget, though I should be getting a new iMac shortly.

The iPad is not that great yet because the stylus cannot get you very good detail. Kinda like a crayon. I bought an ASUS PC (yuk!) tablet that had a Wacom pen included to do that more detailed stuff. I'm not using it as much as I thought.

This is the one thing I never quite understood about Jobs' opposition to stylus input for iOS. The Macintosh has been sold as a creative tool since its launch. I understand the desire for the stylus to not be used for the vast majority of tasks, but for detailed creative work and those with circulation issues it is another layer of usability. Then again, he also stated that a screen twice the size of the iPhone's (a 7" iPad) would be too small to use with your finger.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Thanks for the tips. It is weird not looking, but the ones with screens like you use are currently outside of my budget, though I should be getting a new iMac shortly.


This is the one thing I never quite understood about Jobs' opposition to stylus input for iOS. The Macintosh has been sold as a creative tool since its launch. I understand the desire for the stylus to not be used for the vast majority of tasks, but for detailed creative work and those with circulation issues it is another layer of usability. Then again, he also stated that a screen twice the size of the iPhone's (a 7" iPad) would be too small to use with your finger.

I totally agree. It's arrogance. I think given all the business applications they will have to give in soon. i just got a new iPad App called "Remarks" that let's you mark up PDFs, that's very handy. So it's improving and you can draw, but it's still clunky at times.

 

[Bolna]

Then it will be interesting to see what happens once the new Fantasyland expansion opens...whether they will have adequate space to accomodate the strollers.

I wish they had a stroller parking area like the car parking garages in Tokyo, just push it in and it automatically takes it up out of the way until you want to retrieve it.

Cologne train station here in Germany has a system like that for luggage: Just one station and your suitcase disappears somewhere into the basement under the station. I found this picture of the station:

However, I think most people would hate to check their stroller every time they want to park it somewhere - just like people hate the lockers for the thrill rides at Universal.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Cologne train station here in Germany has a system like that for luggage: Just one station and your suitcase disappears somewhere into the basement under the station. I found this picture of the station:

However, I think most people would hate to check their stroller every time they want to park it somewhere - just like people hate the lockers for the thrill rides at Universal.

That is really interesting. Thanks for posting this. Never knew about that. I think you are right, people don't want to engage in any more processes. I'd imagine that there would be a secret garden at the entry to a land behind hedges where you can park your stroller, deal with your child, etc and then carry or walk them a short distance to the rides instead of crowding each entry.
The issue is that the amount of real estate for that is significant and the lands were not created for it. Folding strollers that slide into some kind of a rack would be nice, but guests also store stuff in them.

I went to Daveland.com and looked at images from the 50's and 60's, and to my surprise there are few to no strollers in the pictures. the most i could find was in front of Small World and that number was small. There were lots of adults but few babies.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Inception Park

Here's a video on an urban park in Brazil that has thrill rides but managed to get rid of those nasty tracks. If only universal would do this. My dream has come true! Watch and enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/36874836

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Yeah, there is a direct correlation between the rise in childhood obesity and the abundance of strollers at the parks.

A quick peek at Davelandweb.com shows "ZERO" strollers at the parks!

Agree. I could find a few at Small World but that was pretty much it. Shocking.

I wonder what year the Stroller Rental was added? That is something I never paid attention to. We opened with it at DLP, but never thought about the rise of stroller use. I'm thinking that it's possible that many parents keep their kids in them longer than in the past. Today's models accommodate bigger kids as the front trays come off. The other consideration is that parents don't want to wait for their toddler to walk slowly so using the stroller is faster and easier.

I guess the obesity claim is kind of unfounded. The debate is here.
http://www.weightymatters.ca/2011/06/are-strollers-contributing-to-childhood.html

http://www.parenting.com/blogs/show...ch-stroller-make-kids-walk-say-uk-politicians

 

[lazyboy97o]

That is really interesting. Thanks for posting this. Never knew about that. I think you are right, people don't want to engage in any more processes. I'd imagine that there would be a secret garden at the entry to a land behind hedges where you can park your stroller, deal with your child, etc and then carry or walk them a short distance to the rides instead of crowding each entry.
The issue is that the amount of real estate for that is significant and the lands were not created for it. Folding strollers that slide into some kind of a rack would be nice, but guests also store stuff in them.

I went to Daveland.com and looked at images from the 50's and 60's, and to my surprise there are few to no strollers in the pictures. the most i could find was in front of Small World and that number was small. There were lots of adults but few babies.

I think any new system is going to have to overcome the hurdle of people being used to just being able to leave the stroller where they desire. I think (no experience) the valet-esque system at Kilimanjaro Safaris is very nice and convenient, but every time I go on the attraction I see several people wanting to fight the system, either by wanting to leave the stroller out front or refusing to hand it over to the Cast Member before the loading station.

The lack of strollers in the past reminds me of that old National Geographic article with ended with the joke about there maybe one day being a Disneyland built for children.

Here's a video on an urban park in Brazil that has thrill rides but managed to get rid of those nasty tracks. If only universal would do this. My dream has come true! Watch and enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/36874836

I think I am more impressed by just how well that was put together. It looked so real!

 

[Eddie Sotto]

I think any new system is going to have to overcome the hurdle of people being used to just being able to leave the stroller where they desire. I think (no experience) the valet-esque system at Kilimanjaro Safaris is very nice and convenient, but every time I go on the attraction I see several people wanting to fight the system, either by wanting to leave the stroller out front or refusing to hand it over to the Cast Member before the loading station.

The lack of strollers in the past reminds me of that old National Geographic article with ended with the joke about there maybe one day being a Disneyland built for children.


I think I am more impressed by just how well that was put together. It looked so real!

Agree. Guests will fight the system unless it's seamless. I thought you'd like seeing that it's fun for filmmakers to do the impossible! Beautiful job!

 

[lazyboy97o]

Another thought on stroller, what about the change from the ticket system to the passport system? It seems that, especially with price increases, there is more incentive to "Get your money's worth" which makes waiting for the kid a less desirable scenario. Whereas before you paid a small admission and for what you experienced. To get the full value of your ticket book you had to do the smaller, slower attractions which filled the physical space between the E-Tickets, versus running back and forth across the park to get to your next FastPass or dining reservation. And if the kid got too tired early, your tickets were not wasted, they could be banked for another day.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Using the senses.

We sometimes underestimate the impact of touch and here's a creative use of PR, Burgers and Braille. I loved how something that is right under our noses in plain sight can be repurposed in a way to make something emotional and special. I think you will love this idea. I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nszEBLtI3qg&feature=watch_response

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Another thought on stroller, what about the change from the ticket system to the passport system? It seems that, especially with price increases, there is more incentive to "Get your money's worth" which makes waiting for the kid a less desirable scenario. Whereas before you paid a small admission and for what you experienced. To get the full value of your ticket book you had to do the smaller, slower attractions which filled the physical space between the E-Tickets, versus running back and forth across the park to get to your next FastPass or dining reservation. And if the kid got too tired early, your tickets were not wasted, they could be banked for another day.

Strollers makes the most sense when the "meter" is running to get it all in. Very good points.